By Chef John from Food Wishes Video Recipes
I ran this video demo on my blog a long time ago, but a reader sent me a photo of some “Sweetheart” pomegranates, and I thought it would be perfect timing to rerun this clip since this is pomegranate season. By the way, I had never seen a non-red pomegranate before, but she reports the insides are as red and delicious as the traditional varieties. This is a short, but hopefully useful, demo for how to remove all those pomegranate kernels without making a big mess. These are great on any winter salads or soups, and of course desserts.Nathan Ota "Candy Colored Clown"
The work of Nathan Ota has been featured here once before, this time it's a print from the ever amazing Crazy 4 Cult series. This one is inspired by the movie "Blue Velvet", and is very dynamic looking. I love the contrast, colors and style that Nathan has. This piece really pops out out at you. I imagine if you got too close to this one on the wall, it would jump off and headbutt you. It goes on sale October 24th, it is an edition of only 50.
Fraud and corruption in Iraq? No! Among the $6 billion in military contracts already under criminal investigation are hundreds of millions of dollars in food supplies for the troops. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Justice Department wants to know if a handful of the biggest food companies in the country "set excessively high prices when they sold their goods to the Army's primary food contractor."
Perdue Farms Inc., Sara Lee Corp. and ConAgra Foods Inc. are among the food giants whose deals with Kuwaiti firm Public Warehousing Co. are being investigated, and a key figure in the probe is a former employee at Sara Lee's Jimmy Dean sausage unit. Heh.
On the bright side, the story provides a look into what the troops are eating, and it doesn't sound too bad: Lobster tails, egg rolls, turkey thighs, chicken breasts, and several tons of beef per month, including marinated 14-ounce T-bone steaks. And I thought it was all MREs and Hardtack.
-- Brian Bernbaum
Imagining a world without potatoes is pretty depressing. No more French fries, or hash browns, or mashed potatoes, or biodegradable coffee cup lids ... that's right, potatoes got a new gig: Tater Ware makes coffee cups, take-out containers and disposable cutlery -- all of it GMO free, 100 percent biodegradable and microwave-safe. If only it was edible ...
-- Brian Bernbaum
Band of Horses
Cease to Begin
(Sub Pop)
The music on 2006's Everything All the Time, Band of Horses' breakthrough CD, could serve as the soundtrack for the originality versus inspiration debate. There was nothing novel about the disc, with most ditties overtly recalling assorted expressionistic, guitar-driven predecessors. Yet the tunes were so passionately performed that they frequently made freshness and innovation seem beside the point.
The tension between these elements plays out to slightly lesser effect on Cease, for reasons that are tough to quantify. Despite the departure of songwriter Mat Brooke, Ben Bridwell-warbled tracks such as the driving "Is There a Ghost" and the lovely air inexplicably dubbed "Detlef Schrempf" represent solid stuff. Equally strong is "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands," which integrates rootsy sensibilities with aggressive riffology. But lyrics such as "The world is such a wonderful place" (from "Ode to LRC") don't drip with insight, and the sonic familiarity of "Marry Song" and "Window Blues" proves to be a limitation, not a revelation.
Cease is catchy, tuneful and sincere, but a bit minor. It could have used more Horse power. -- Michael Roberts
Interpol and Liars
October 20, 2007
Bill Graham Civic Hall,
San Francisco, CA.
Better Than: Pretty much everything else this year.
Download: An Interpol stream.
San Francisco did the impossible Saturday night --- they made Interpol smile.
The poe-faced, New York City post-punk quartet unexpectedly broke character ...
